The Midnight Bell — Restaurant in Leeds

Beware of the Manageress who likes to take phones off the table and put them in her back pocket!

I visited today with my partner, brother, kids and the family dog for lunch. The Manageress greeted us with a sour face, so the atmosphere was already questionable.

Whilst waiting for our food to arrive, I took a photo of my children and placed my phone on the table where my partner and brother were sat. I then took our family dog for a quick 2 minute walk outside. Upon my return, my brother asked me if I had my phone on me. I said no, told him I had left it on the table right in front of him. He then went on to explain how the manageress had come over with plates in both hands using serviettes to protect her hands from the hot plates. As she placed them down, she used said serviettes to disguise picking up the phone. He said he didn't think anything of it as perhaps it was her own phone she had placed down with the plates. This didn't sit right with me so I asked if one of the children might have taken it. After confirming that they hadn't, the manageress arrived with the rest of our food. I asked her if she had taken a phone off the table to which she very quickly and very defensively said no. My partner then rang my phone and she pulled it out of her back pocket apologising and saying that it was a mistake. She seemed very guilty indeed as she then was nowhere to be seen for the next 10 minutes. After I enquired with another member of staff about who the manager is, you can imagine the shock on all of our faces when he said it was the same member of staff who had taken my phone!

I understand the table was small, the surface to place the food was limited, and perhaps it might have been a mistake. However, on second thought, why would she place her phone on the customer's table and then think it was hers to pick back up and place it in her pocket? She seemed very sheepish as she returned my phone to me, like a child cought in mischief. The disguise with the tissues really didn't seem coincidental and her explaining that she isn't a thief definitely raised suspicion that perhaps she had tried this act before and had been caught yet again...

I will not be returning! And if you decide to visit, keep your phones and belongings with you at all times even if people are sat...

A good pub for beer, the food was reasonable but service, warmth and attention to detail were sadly lacking throughout amongst all staff encountered.

We visited as a group of 6. We’d made a booking, but the restaurant had lost our booking and the way this was resolved was not particularly warm, and almost accusatory as if we had made a mistake. On producing the email booking, two tables were pushed together and prepared pretty quickly and an apology was eventually forthcoming, but it certainly wasn’t a great first impression. I understand that things can go and do go wrong, it was more the reaction and the way it was handled that was a little cold and off-putting.

We were then seated at a table, but there was no communication as to whether we ordered at the bar or someone would take our order at the table, which would have been useful. When the mains came, 5 arrived relatively close together but 1 got lost somewhere so took another 5-7 minutes to arrive, which is quite a long time. The communication around this was poor, we weren’t sure whether the staff were aware of the situation or not and nobody came to the table to check on us, offer condiments, more drinks (which we would have had, so sales missed) or anything at this time. As I was about to go up to the bar, the food did then appear and there was an apology. The food across the table did all look very good and was enjoyed.

4 of us then opted for dessert, with 3 of us choosing the cheeseboard. A few minutes later, 4 spoons and napkins were delivered to the table, which is clearly not the correct cutlery for a cheeseboard. Then the cheeseboards came, and still no knives, so we then had to ask for those. Advertised with the cheeseboard was butter as the obvious accompaniment for crackers, but again this was missing from all 3 plates. The general feeling was that while the individual cheeses were pleasant, the cheeseboard was poor value for money at £11.50.

So in short, this is a good pub for drinks but the food is charged at a premium price, which the service doesn’t match, with many basic errors and a general lack of communication, a coldness and a feeling that the staff aren’t overly concerned with your custom. There are many more restaurants in Leeds that are much better...

Met my friend & her daughter here yesterday at 2pm for Sunday roast. This place had been recommended to me by a friend & I looked at reviews & saw loads of 5star for the Sunday roast so was really looking forward to it. Wish I'd looked at the rest of the reviews. We were waiting for an hour for our food then when it arrived it was really bad quality. Mash didn't taste fresh, yorkshire pudding wasn't fresh & really dry. Cauliflower cheese was rock hard & dry & the beef was full of fat & the bit that wasn't was that tough & grisly i couldn't cut through it. Manager who I later found out was called Yaz if that's how it's spelt, came & asked if everything was OK & I politely told her it wasn't, she abruptly asked if I wanted some more beef or my plate taking away. I said I've waited an hour so I'd like some different meat please. Waited another 15 mins for the new beef that looked just as old & grey as the first so we decided we wanted to just leave. Told our server Alex that we weren't happy to pay for the food to which he replied he'd refund it all including our drinks. Yaz must've refused to clear the full bill & he came back to tell us so I paid it. He was so embarrassed when we complained & said the chef had late one last night & that's why our meal was so bad. I did tell him that the quality of the beef couldn't have been the chefs fault but the wait for our food probably was. My friends daughter is six years old & she had to wait an hour for microwave quality food. Alex apologised so many times bless him, not his fault at all though & he's a lovely lad who was really friendly & professional. No apology from the manager Yaz & she even went out of her way to give me a dirty look when I went to the loo before we left. Absolutely disgusting behaviour from a manager when we had been nothing but polite in our complaint & we were leaving still hungry. Certainly wasn't any fault on our part. Was really looking forward to a lovely dinner with my friend & I would've got better fed at McDonald's. Definitely won't return with a manager with an attitude like she had towards...